Monday, June 23, 2008

Some potentially good news for us vegan men. A new study by Dr. Dean Ornish suggests that a low fat vegetarian diet coupled with exercise and stress management techniques, like yoga, actually shuts down prostate cancer triggering genes and stimulates cancer preventing genes. What is the science behind it, and how does it all work? I have no idea. You can link to the news story I saw here and here, and to the study itself here. If Ornish's findings are correct, this means good things for exercising, yoga-doing, plant-eating men like myself.

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comments:

Thanks for sharing the article; I thought it was intesting! And two of my favorites were key to the article; I'm not sure if I like vegetables/fruits or yoga more! I'm trying to get my husband to do yoga, but he is resisting..BTW, those crates of fruits and vegetables sure look good.

Sharon R,A truly male-friendly yoga culture has yet to emerge in North America, I think. Roots does have a line of yoga clothes for men, and Yoga Journal does feature male models, but overall I think yoga is still seen as a female domain. Some of this is self imposed, too. Men focus on power and strength, not flexibility and openness, so they are afraid to try a yoga class because they are too self conscious. I started a yoga practice years ago after a back injury that had me laid up in bed with excruciating pain. I started with the Rodney Yee DVDs, which are excellent and great for men, I think. Bryan Kest also has some good stuff. I have actually never stepped foot into a yoga studio because of grad school induced poverty, but I enjoy my home practice.

For a related read, check out The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell. He talks about his(huge) study, and the science behind it, and referenced Dr. Ornish, too. The upshot is whole-food, plant based diet can prevent many of the "diseases of affluence" that plague western society. Sure, there are criticisms, but there will be with anything of that nature.

My 68-year old father read it, and became vegan overnight (I was so proud)

I have been trying in without luck to get the Australian government to recognize that vegetarians are lower risk group in terms of health problems, and that they should allow health insurance companies to offer vegetarians lower premiums (as it is the case in Holland). We recently had a change of government but is has made no difference, they are just as dismissive as the last lot. The irony is that the health minister just asked in the media for help to solve the problem with obesity, which is also solved by a vegetarian diet.

Even more importantly, Drs. Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn have shown through 20 years of peer-reviewed research that a LOW fat (e.g., no added oil/fat) vegan diet can not only reverse heart disease, it can effectively prevent it (by preventing the plaque formation).

I LOVE Vegan Dad's recipes, but do think some of the frying and added oil isn't optimal.

Check out:http://www.heartattackproof.com

..and the interview I did with Essy:http://www.madcowboy.com/02_MCIview05.000.html

But, again, there's some stupendous creativity on Vegan Dad's blog and I just can't imagine how he finds the time.

I think you've enough material already to go a publisher of vegan cookbooks, get an advance, and go pro.